game's finest referee", and he is regarded by many observers as the greatest of all time. Describing his preparation for the game, Collina said that he was "very interested in the tactics" of the two teams, so that he would be "ready to read the game". He described his selection as "unbelievable", saying that "I try to keep my feet on the ground but it is very difficult". The assistant referees for the game were Leif Lindberg of Sweden and England's Philip Sharp, while Hugh Dallas from Scotland was the fourth official. First half Brazil kicked off the game at 8pm local time (11am UTC), in front of an attendance of 69,029 with an estimated global television audience of 1.5 billion. The weather at Haneda Airport, from the stadium, was recorded as cloudy at the time of kick-off, with a temperature of and 88% humidity. Germany were described by The Guardian Scott Murray as "well on top" in the first fifteen minutes, and they had an opportunity to score when Bernd Schneider ran with the ball past Gilberto Silva before crossing into the penalty area towards Klose, where it was cleared behind by Edmílson. However, it was Brazil who had what Murray described as the "first real chance of the game" on 18 minutes. Ronaldinho passed upfield to Ronaldo, who was one-on-one with Kahn. Ronaldo hit a shot with his left foot, but it went wide of the goal. Schneider passed to Bode in the Brazilian penalty area on 29 minutes, but Bode was unable to control the ball. On 30 minutes Ronaldinho made another pass through to Ronaldo, who found himself with only Kahn to beat for a second time. He was unable to put enough power on the shot under pressure from Thomas Linke, and Kahn saved. Shortly before half-time, Torsten Frings sent a cross into the Brazilian penalty area from the right towards Klose, but it evaded all players and was retrieved by Neuville on the opposite side of the pitch. He passed the ball to Jeremies outside the penalty area, who attempted a curling shot from , but it went high and wide of the goal. Kléberson then had two chances to score, putting the first wide in the 42nd minute, and hitting the bar from long range two minutes later. Lúcio had an opportunity when he received the ball in the penalty area and turned